Pubdate: Tue, 30 Apr 2002
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Associated Press
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n825/a09.html

ABOUT 200 ARRESTED AT WIDESPREAD PANIC SHOW

PELHAM, Ala. -- About 200 people were arrested on drug charges during a 
three-night undercover crackdown at a rock concert in which one person died 
of an apparent overdose.

About half of the arrests at the outdoor show of the Athens band Widespread 
Panic were felony drug cases. The rest involved misdemeanor drug and 
underage drinking charges.

The crackdown, called Operation Don't Panic, was conducted Friday, Saturday 
and Sunday nights at the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre by agents of the state 
alcoholic beverage control board and Pelham police.

Some 30,000 fans attended the sold-out concert of the group at the 
amphitheater south of Birmingham.

Pelham police Capt. E.A. Thomas Jr. said Erica Robins Young, 29, of 
Chattanooga, Tenn., died of an apparent overdose of the drug ecstasy that 
had been purchased for $20.

The Birmingham News, which reported the death Monday, said Young collapsed 
about 10 p.m. Saturday, with people continuing to dance around her before 
she was finally dragged from the stands and given cardiopulmonary 
resuscitation. She died about an hour later.

As part of the crackdown, state agents in plainclothes weaved their way 
among Widespread Panic fans in the parking lots, confiscating a range of 
drugs including cocaine and OxyContin. Teams of three or four agents, led 
by those in their 20s and backed by older officers, looked for illegal drug 
dealing.

Lt. Andy Hardy of the ABC board ran the operation from a mobile command 
center behind the amphitheater's stage, with a prison system bus used as a 
temporary jail.

Among those observing the concert scene were Carol and Kenneth Hudson of 
Gadsden, Ala., whose 21-year-old son Anthony, a Widespread Panic fan, died 
on Christmas Day 2000 of an OxyContin overdose. They had not been to one of 
the group's concerts before.

"We just had to see what was going on," Carol Hudson told the News.

"I can't believe this," said her husband. "It's unreal."

One of those arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana found the 
crackdown repellant.

"What they did to me was totally uncool," said Jason Bartlett, 30, a 
Widespread Panic follower and self-described ski bum from Colorado. "We are 
trying not to lose our vibe, but we are definitely scared."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Ariel